CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga volleyball team found its back against the wall tonight dropping the first two sets as Appalachian State capitalized on mistakes taking a 3-0 (16-25, 22-25 and 16-25) victory. Sophomore right side Stephanie Harville (Morristown, Tenn.) paced the Lady Mocs offense with nine kills, four blocks and five digs.
As the offense continued to struggle since sweeping UNC Greensboro and playing a closely contested match at Samford, the squad only generated 31 kills as the Mountaineers recorded 45. Chattanooga fell to 9-8, 1-4 in Socon play, while Appalachian State rose to 7-12, 3-2.
Junior middle blocker Courtney Barnes (Franklin, Tenn.) hit .600 and generated six kills along with freshmen outside hitters Kirsten Beasley (Amarillo, Texas) and Heather Parman (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Defensively, the Lady Mocs were led by freshman libero Paula Passmore (Merrit Island, Fla.) with nine digs. Earlier this season, the squad played stellar defense creating numerous opportunities for its developing offense, but in the last three matches the opponent has dug up more balls against the young team.
Red-shirt freshman defensive specialist Dakota Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) started tonight for Chattanooga after transferring from Austin Peay and registered her first service ace of her career. Freshmen Christina Teter (Red Bank, Tenn.) played in her fourth game as a reserve middle blocker.
The Mountaineers controlled the first set after going up 7-1 en route to a 25-16 win, where the Lady Mocs had five errors and seven kills compared to 14.
The second set saw more fight from Chattanooga, who had three leads and tied Appalachian State 12 times, but was unable to pull thru at the end. ASU recorded the final four points of the frame, where UTC had a 22-21 advantage.
With another disappointing start for the young club, the squad came out quickly in the third set racing out a 6-2 lead, but Appalachian State tied the match at six, seven, eight, nine, 11 and 12. In that stretch,the team could not score consistently and made costly mistakes keeping their opponent in the set. With Chattanooga up 16-15 and serving, Appalachian State rolled off 10-straight points ending the match, even though head coach Lisa Rhodes called multiple timeouts during that run trying to rally her troops.
The Lady Mocs are back in action tomorrow when they travel to Western Carolina. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. with live statistics and a blog available on GoMocs.com. Next weekend, Chattanooga hosts the College of Charleston and The Citadel with both contests beginning at 2 p.m.
Appalachian State def. Chattanooga 25-16,25-22,25-16
Chattanooga (9-8, 1-4 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - HARVILLE, Stephanie
9-1-4; BEASLEY, Kirsten 6-0-2; BARNES, Courtney 6-0-3; PARMAN, Heather
6-0-0; KUHN, Ellie 2-0-2; ERND, Meagan 1-0-0; SCOTT, Jessica 1-0-0;
DAVIS, Dakota 0-1-0; Totals 31-2-6.0. (Assists) - CONNER, Cassie 14;
CHASTAIN, Bailee 12. (Dig leaders) - PASSMORE, Paula 9; BEASLEY,
Kirsten 6
Appalachian State (7-12, 3-2 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Maja
Jechorek 12-2-5; Maggie Seeds 12-0-0; Lauren Swecker 10-0-1; Becca
Norris 5-0-4; Caroline Sedon 5-4-3; Cassie Engelgau 1-0-1; Kasey Sauls
0-0-2; Totals 45-6-9.0. (Assists) - Kasey Sauls 42. (Dig leaders) -
Lauren Swecker 16; Maja Jechorek 11; Kasey Sauls 10
Site: Boone, N.C. (Holmes Center)
Date: Oct 10, 2009 Attend: 253 Time: 1:20
Referees: Chris Sutphin, Dennis Branch
